Iran turns the Strait of Hormuz into a toll lane, charging up to $2 million per ship

Since mid-March, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has forced commercial shipping onto an alternative corridor near the Strait of Hormuz and collected transit payments that can reach $2 million per passage. On July 28, the IRGC also fired ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Jordan after earlier drone attacks on U.S. forces and Saudi energy sites near Riyadh and the Eastern Province. All recorded transits have shifted to the IRGC-controlled route, and J.P. Morgan estimates a fully operational system could bring in $70 billion to $90 billion a year. The moves have lifted global shipping costs and increased the geopolitical risk premium, directly affecting conventional energy and shipping assets.